Alan Pardew can expect a hot reception on Saturday afternoon when he takes charge of his first match at St James’ Park since leaving Newcastle United for Crystal Palace.
Pardew still polarises opinion on Tyneside, where locals will be willing his team of FA Cup finalists to offer Rafael Benítez’s side a Premier League lifeline by losing. In an apparent attempt to provoke Palace’s players, Sam Allardyce – whose Sunderland team are vying with Newcastle and Norwich to avoid relegation – claimed the London club's squad would have celebrated reaching Wembley by “going on the pop” this week.
Benítez remained unruffled by Allardyce’s additional suggestions that Pardew’s focus would not be on Saturday’s game and that Palace’s players may pull out of tackles in order to avoid injury – but did not disagree with his central thesis.
“I don’t take much notice of mind games,” said the Spaniard, whose side are 19th and a point behind 17th-placed Sunderland, who also have a game in hand. “But I’m sure Palace’s players will be thinking about the final. It’s normal. Players are thinking if they pick up an injury they can’t play at Wembley, so it’s in the back of their heads. Some of those players will only play in one final, so it’s the opportunity of their lives. In the back of their heads has to be the final.”
Newcastle fans are understood to be planning to chant the names of Hatem Ben Arfa – their former favourite who, although ostracised by Pardew, is now flourishing at Nice and vying with Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic to be crowned France’s player of the year – and Jonás Gutiérrez. The Argentinian winger recently won a disability discrimination claim against his old club, where he believes he was mistreated by Palace’s current manager.
Benítez was asked if he feared such anti-Pardew choruses could prove detrimental to Newcastle and whether he felt it would be wrong to boo a man who did, after all, lead the team to a fifth-placed Premier League finish and a Europa League quarter-final.
“Everyone will have their own opinion,” he said. “I will not waste too much time with these things; they can do what they want but our supporters are clever and they know the main thing is to support the team. For me, the main thing is that, once we start, they have to support our team like they’ve been doing because the connection between fans and players here makes a difference.
“This is one where they may have feelings beforehand but, during the game, I think it will be much better if everybody just focuses on getting behind the players and helping them. It’s a massive thing to have the fans behind you. You always have that extra mile in your legs. You feel the atmosphere.”
